A New Handbook of Rhetoric

A New Handbook of Rhetoric inverts the terms of classical rhetoric by applying to them the alpha privative, a prefix that expresses absence. Adding the prefix α- to more than a dozen of the most important terms in the field, the contributors to this volume build a new vocabulary for rhetorical inquiry. Essays on apathy, akairos, adoxa, and atopos, among others, explore long-standing disciplinary habits, reveal the denials and privileges inherent in traditional rhetorical inquiry, and theorize new problems and methods. Using this vocabulary in an analysis of current politics, media, and technology, the essays illuminate aspects of contemporary culture that traditional rhetorical theory often overlooks.

Innovative and groundbreaking, A New Handbook of Rhetoric at once draws on and unsettles ancient Greek rhetorical terms, opening new avenues for studying values, norms, and phenomena often stymied by the tradition.

In addition to the editor, the contributors include Caddie Alford, Benjamin Firgens, Cory Geraths, Anthony J. Irizarry, Mari Lee Mifsud, John Muckelbauer, Bess R. H. Myers, Damien Smith Pfister, Nathaniel A. Rivers, and Alessandra Von Burg.

“A New Handbook of Rhetoric is a major contribution to the ongoing conversation about how contemporary rhetorical theory relates to the rhetorical tradition. The digital world and global crises such as climate change motivate a search for theories that can explain, accommodate, and advance rhetorical judgments and rhetorical practice. The ‘alpha-privative’ strategy employed here is novel and productive, offering an innovative way to both learn from the past and move into the uncharted and unprecedented future.”—Carolyn R. Miller, coeditor of Landmark Essays on Rhetorical Genre Studies

Michele Kennerly is Associate Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences and Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies at Penn State University.

A Note from the Editor

Acknowledgements

Introduction: Term Limits

Michele Kennerly

Escape Velocity

Atechnē

Mari Lee Mifsud

Asignification

John Muckelbauer

(Out Of) Place

Atopos

Michele Kennerly

Anostos

Anthony J. Irizarry

Akairos

Bess R. H. Myers

(Not) Knowing For Sure

Adoxa

Caddie Alford

Aporia

Damien Smith Pfister

Agnostic

Cory Geraths

(Not) Seeing It That Way

Apathy

Nathaniel A. Rivers

Aphantasia

Benjamin Firgens

Appendix: (No) Uncertain Terms

Cory Geraths, Michele Kennerly, Mari Lee Mifsud, Bess R. H.

Myers, Damien Smith Pfister, and Alessandra Von Burg

Bibliography

List of Contributors

Index

Download a PDF sample chapter here: Introduction

Communication Studies

           History of Communication

           Rhetorical Studies

           Media Arts

           Political

Rhetoric